31 Days: The Thrift Project – Day 19: Shaken, Not Stirred Costume

Full Disclosure: I did not complete this project this month. When you see the pics, it will be obvious, because I was pregnant with Baby Girl when I wore this costume last Halloween. However, I believe it ties in really well with The Thrift Project, and it’s another great way to use thrifted t-shirts. And maybe there’s a mama-to-be looking for a fun Halloween costume. Here you go.

I used to be part of a Bunco group. It was fantastic! These ladies are the best, and when I started playing Bunco with them, I was still working, so getting together with them was the best stress reliever after a long day teaching. After Baby Girl was born, it just got a little harder to make it to Bunco every month, so I quit with hopes of still being able to sub from time to time.

So last year, we had Halloween Bunco. I love costumes, so I REALLY LOVE dressing up for Halloween. I was almost 8 months pregnant with Baby Girl at that time, so I wanted to come up with something funny, but not pregnant nun or bun-in-the-oven. I asked Husband if he had any good ideas, and, without skipping a beat, said, “I’m seeing a martini and and olive.” AWESOME! Husband is the best!

But how to execute that?! I found a few martini-and-olive costumes online (for inspiration – you know I’m going to make my own if at all possible), but I didn’t like anything, so I got out my sketch book and started planning.

My thrift wish list for the costume:

black dress

some sheer fabric (maybe a curtain)

red t-shirt

green t-shirt

I also needed a dowel rod (for the toothpick), which I thought I had in the garage, but I didn’t, so I borrowed on from a friend. Once I had everything, I got to work.

The martini glass was the most challenging part. I didn’t do any measuring, I just freehanded the shape on a sheer curtain and cut it out. I folded the edges under and stitched a quick hem to keep it from unraveling – nothing fancy.

I used the t-shirts to create an olive shape about the size of my pregnant belly. I freehanded these, too, and trimmed as needed to fit properly in the bottom of the martini glass. I pinned the red pimento on top of the green olive and sewed it down. Then I pinned the olive to the curtain and sewed it in place.

I decided that I really liked the black maxi dress, and that, even though it fit my baby bump snugly, it might work as a regular dress after Baby Girl arrived. I didn’t want to sew the martini glass to the dress, so I attached it with safety pins. However, the top of the glass didn’t maintain its shape with pinning, so I used the dowel rod. I inserted it into the top (it was a curtain, after all, so the curtain rod pocket worked perfectly). I was then able to use safety pins to attach the top part of the glass to the straps of the dress while keeping its shape. I just had to watch out how I walked – I didn’t want to poke anyone’s eye out. (I had no other dowel rod, so I attempted to use a regular toothpick, as seen in the photo. It just didn’t have the same effect, so I scrapped that part. It wasn’t really necessary.)

LOVE this costume – maybe my favorite ever!

And here’s another pic with my friend, Ashley, who was also pregnant and looking adorable, wearing part of her daughter’s cat costume.

Anybody going to a Halloween party this year? Tell me about your costume ideas!

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This post is part of a 31 Day series. Find all the posts in this series here.

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One thought on “31 Days: The Thrift Project – Day 19: Shaken, Not Stirred Costume”

mee-oww! Great one.. this was such an innovative costume and you looked fabulous in it! I am not not loking too shaby myself. My costume, however, was not very innovative. I realy need to learn to sew!